Forces tegen rookverboden in veteranensociëteiten
In Canada begint langzaamaan ook het besef te komen dat er organisaties zijn die zich inzetten tegen de onderdrukking van rokers.
In een krant in Toronto werd gisteren verbaasd gereageerd op een actie van Forces Ontario…
At first blush, it seems an odd campaign for a smoker’s rights group, but on this 60th anniversary of D-Day, something called Fight Ordinances and Restrictions to Control and Eliminate Smoking (FORCES) is opposing legislation that makes Canadian Legion halls smoke-free environments.
“The veterans have surely earned the right to smoke in Legion premises — especially if it’s in a specially ventilated room,” says Morris Lewicky, Ontario president of FORCES.
“These guys gave up their lives to defend our freedoms, and now we are taking away their freedom to have a smoke and a beer in their own halls,” says Lewicky, who at 72 was too young for World War II but has never forgotten what World War II was about.
I’d never heard of the awkwardly named FORCES, but it’s a legitimate worldwide organization (forces.org) that challenges what it calls misleading scientific and medical facts about the dangers of smoking. One of these is that second-hand smoke is dangerous, which Lewicky says is a myth that even the World Health Organization has admitted.
He says carbon monoxide during rush-hour traffic is more dangerous for motorists than cigarettes in the car. FORCES insists it is not a creature of the tobacco industry (if it were, surely the tobacco PR people could come up with a less convoluted name for the sake of an acronym!)
Still, the argument that Legion halls should be excluded from the smoking ban — even with a grandfather clause — has some merit. Cut the vets some slack. Yes, many more young people are joining the Legion, but it is predominantly a place where veterans get together and solve the problems of the world.
